


The Unbreakable Friendship of Padfoot and Wormtail

by enchanted_doughnut



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 11:51:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14188347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enchanted_doughnut/pseuds/enchanted_doughnut
Summary: It was Sirius Black's final year at Hogwarts and it was by far the worst year yet. Between James now in a relationship with Lily Evans and Remus studying for his NEWTs, Sirius hardly saw his friends anymore. The only one left was Peter, and… well, it's Peter.





	The Unbreakable Friendship of Padfoot and Wormtail

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this fic started off with me wanting to explore Wormtail's friendship with the other Marauders during their time at Hogwarts. I feel like more often than not, he's either characterised in fairly negative light or is just excluded from the fic. While this is understandable, I'm reminded of what Sirius said in Prisoner of Azkaban. He shouted at Wormtail "Then you should have died! … Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!" 
> 
> At that moment when Wormtail betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort, Sirius would have died to protect Wormtail. That’s not something to be taken lightly, even amongst close friends. But at the same time, why did Wormtail betray them? Was it as simple as him being scared for his own life, or was there something more hidden under the surface? Maybe their friendship wasn’t as iron-clad as Sirius believed it to be.

 

Sirius was bored. _Very_ bored.

While the Common Room was humming pleasantly around him with laughter and chatter, Sirius felt disconnected from it all. He was sitting at one of the small tables, his finished homework laid upon it, and had nothing to do. This was his final year at Hogwarts - It should have been the best! He and James spent most of their summer fantasising about it: the spectacular pranks; the lenient Professors; the reckless girls. But the opposite seemed to have come true.

Lily Evans finally caved into James and was his _girlfriend,_ now. Sirius wondered if they had cast Permanent Sticking Spells on themselves, since they barely left each other's side, anymore. And instead of the easy-going Professors he imagined, they seemed to be trying to bury them under as much work as they possibly could, all the while claiming it was for _their_ own good! _“This is the most important year of your lives.”_ They say. _“This will determine your future.”_ They claim. Sirius couldn’t even remember the last time he saw Remus without his head in a book. (Save for a full moon, of course.)

Yawning, Sirius stretched his arms over the back of his head, the red armchair creaking. Sitting opposite him was Remus who, obviously, has his face inches from a dusty book titled _Magical Moral Perspective _,__ and over on the sofa in front of the fire sat James and Evans, the pair giggling and whispering sweet nothings to each other, or some dung. "Moony…" Sirius whined. Remus seemed to ignore him, turning the page of his book without looking up. Dropping his hand to the desk, Sirius started drumming out a random beat with his fingers. A faint frown appeared on Remus' forehead.

A solid minute passed before Remus spoke. “Sirius…” He said slowly, as if to a misbehaving child. “Please stop that.”

“But I’m bored.” Sirius continued to whine. “Let’s go do something.”

“I’m working on our Defence essay, right now.”

“Urgh!” Sirius rolled his eyes in disgust. “You’re putting way too much effort into this essay! Just tell them what they want to hear! _Yes, I understand that curses are bad. No, I will not cast a curse on another wizard, no matter how terrible of a thing they did. Yes, I understand that by casting a curse I will be trialled the same as one of Voldemort's supporters and go to Azkaban."_

"Sirius, that's not the point of the essay," Remus said, looking up at him finally. "It's to make us question the moral repercussions cast these spells on others! Look what's happening with the War currently; There are rumours that the Ministry is going to legalise the Unforgivable Curses. This essay is to make us look at the ethics behind casting them, regardless if they're legal or not." 

“Moony, if I’m in a duel with Voldemort, you can bet your furry arse I’m not about to cast _Expelliarmus _.__  I'm going to pick something with a bit more ferocity -" Sirius' words were cut off when a stack of books was slammed onto the table, making him yelp and flinch back. "Oi! Watch it, Wormtail!"  

“S-Sorry, Padfoot.” Peter gasped out, his face flushed. “They were really heavy. I carried them all the way from the Library.”

“If only there was something to help out with that… I’m thinking a four letter word, starting with a ‘w’ and ending with an ‘a-n-d’.”    

“Err…”

“What are these anyway?” Sirius picked up the top book. “ _Advanced Human Transfiguration: A Exploration of Animagi, Metamorphmagi and other Human Alterations _-__ Wormtail, you can _literally_ turninto a rat. _You already know this!_ Why are you reading books on it?! _ _”__

“I don’t understand the theory behind it! You and Prongs covered all of that. I can’t write that to transform into an animal you just keep wiggling your nose until you sprout whiskers!”

Remus laughed, while Sirius buried his head in hands, groaning. “I really worry about you sometimes, Wormtail. C’mon, let’s go raid the Kitchens.”

“I can’t,” Peter said, scratched his head nervously. “I really have to study…”

"You can study Animagi when you transform into a rat for the millionth time. Let's go!" Peter started to protest, but Sirius had already jumped up from his seat and was manhandling the other boy towards their dormitory. "It'll be fun! You love food!" He said shoving Peter up the stairs.

Beelining for the four-poster bed beside his own, and the large trunk in front of it, Sirius instructed Peter to grab his backpack. As he rummaged through the messy pile of robes, scrunched up parchment and dirty socks inside, Sirius asked “Do you know who had the map last? Oh… This is just gross.” Sirius pulled out muddy robes that still had leaves, twigs and animal fur still sticking to it. “Prongs is going to get fleas or something.”

“I thought you were the one prone to fleas,” Peter quipped, tugging the hessian bag over his shoulders.

“That happened _once. One time!”_

“I found the map! Why was it on your bedside table?”

“Errr… I don’t know. Ah-hah! I’ve got the Cloak!” Sirius stood up, shaking out the Invisibility Cloak. Grinning at Peter, he said “Let’s go, Wormtail. we’re going to have a great time!”  

 

Passing through the Common Room on their way out, Sirius spotted the back of James' head over the couch and considered telling the other where they were going. There was probably an unwritten code, saying you weren't supposed to interrupt a mate when he's with his girl. But Sirius was borrowing his Invisibility Cloak and telling him that surely took priority. Grinning, Sirius picked up _Advanced Human Transfiguration_ and lobbed it at the black, scruffy head of hair.

A thud, a cry of pain and a stream of swear words followed. Several heads turned as James jumped up to his feet, spinning around wildly looking for his attacker, only to see Sirius roaring with laughter at him. "W-Wormtail and I are borrowing your Cloak, Prongs." He choked out. "Just letting you know!"

“For fuck’s sake, Padfoot!” James exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. “Don’t bother telling me next time!”

Still laughing, Sirius casually waved off the fuming boy. With Peter in tow, Sirius pushed open the portrait door and stepped out into the dim, candlelit corridor. “Don’t wait up for us,” He grinned at the Fat Lady.

“Now, don’t go off and get into trouble, Mister!” She scolded, wagging a fat finger at the boys. But her serious tone was ruined by her lips quirking up, unable to hold the smile.   

“You know me, I’d never!” Sirius laughed, throwing the Cloak over his shoulders. The Fat Lady was left shaking her head as the pair vanished from sight.  

 

“ _Ow!_ Damn it, stop stepping on my foot!”

“I’m sorry!”

“Shh! Be quiet! The Fat Friar is up ahead!”

As they inched towards the hovering ghost, Peter’s foot pressed hard on Sirius’ again, making him clench his teeth. Several painful moments past as the Fat Friar drifted past them, and a reasonable distance away down the corridor, before Sirius whacked Peter across the top of his head. “I told you to stop stepping on me!” He hissed.

“I’m not doing it on purpose!” Peter said remorsefully, tears shining in his eyes.

Sighing in frustration, Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, okay. Transform and I'll carry you." Not needing another scolding, the other boy instantly began to shrink and shrink until there was a rat sitting on the floor, staring up at Sirius. A tiny backpack secured firmly around its body.

Sirius quickly picked him up, putting him on his shoulder. “See, isn’t this much better already?”

Wormtail squeaked in agreement.

 

They made their way down to the Kitchens without any difficulties after that. Earlier on the Map Sirius spotted Professor McGonagall patrolling around the castle entrance, but hopefully she wouldn’t be heading their way for a while. After tickling the pear, Sirius held the painting ajar as he set Wormtail down. “Get loads of cakes!” He told Wormtail, who nodded in understanding and scurried into the Kitchen through the portrait hole. With nothing else for him to do, Sirius leaned back on the wall and waited.

A few minutes past and Sirius started to wonder what was taking Peter so long. Maybe he didn’t transform back from being a rat quick enough and the House Elves attacked him? Sirius knew from his own family’s House Elf that they could be vicious little buggers when they wanted to be. Glancing at the Map, Sirius saw Peter was still in the Kitchens and - _Oh shit!_ McGonagall! She was walking down the stairs towards them.   

Sirius silently cursed to himself, his eyes darting between the fruit portrait and the Map. __He__ was fine; he was under the Cloak. But Peter was going to come out any minute and McGonagall would see! Sirius’ heart started racing as he saw a wand light starting to highlight stone walls at the bottom of the staircase. _Stay inside,_ _Wormtail._ He thought, desperately. _Don’t come out._

As the bright light shone down the corridor on him, Sirius found himself holding his breath. McGonagall's footsteps were deafening as she slowly walked down the corridor, each step echoed off the cold stone and thudding in Sirius' ears. Her eyes were carefully scouring the corridor _as if she knew_ something wasn’t right. At that moment, the fruit portrait started to slowly creak open.

McGonagall instantly pointed her wand straight at it; a bright spotlight casting away any possible shadow that a small rat could have slipped away in. _No, no, no!_ Sirius thought, pulling out his own wand. Knowing he was Peter’s only chance, Sirius carefully poked the tip of his wand out through the Cloak, aiming at the wall behind McGonagall. Mouthing the spell, Sirius flicked his wand and - _BANG!_ The wall behind McGonagall exploded, chunks of rubble flying everywhere.  

“Who’s there?!” McGonagall’s voice boomed through the cloud of dust, carrying over the screams of several startled portraits.

Looking back at the Kitchens, Sirius saw the portrait was now wide open, neither a boy or rat was anywhere to be seen. _I hope you got out!_ He thought, running away down the corridor.    

__

Reaching the main floor of the castle, Sirius took a moment to check the Map again. McGonagall was still back near the Kitchens, thankfully on her own. So where was Peter? His eyes darting all over the Map, Sirius didn’t spot him for several minutes, until he found him up on the third floor. “Damn, you can run fast!” Sirius muttered, impressed that Peter got so far in such a short span of time.

Not wanting to give Peter any more time to scamper off even further, Sirius hurried up to the third floor, only pausing when he arrived to check the Map again. “Thank Merlin,” Sirius breathed out, seeing the _Peter Pettigrew_ marker less than ten metres ahead of his own. Looking around, however, it appeared like Sirius was alone.

Following the walls, Sirius walked carefully, looking for any sign of Peter. The flickering candlelight cast moving shadows on the wall and suits of armour, which in the dim, quiet hallway, Sirius almost expected to jump out at him. Finally, he spotted a wiggly tail poking out underneath a shiny, metal boot.

"Got you!" He exclaimed, grabbing Wormtail. "H-Hey! Stop, it's just me!" But Wormtail was twisting and squealing madly in his hands like a rat possessed. "Stop it!" Sirius hissed at him. "McGonagall's going to hear you! _Ouch!_ Why you little - !”

“Umm… Padfoot? What are you doing?”

Sirius whirled around to find Peter standing behind him, looking confused. Sirius looked at the flailing rat in his hands and the boy. Letting outa high-pitched scream, Sirius threw the rat away from him. The rat twisted in the air almost gracefully before it landed heavily on the ground, and ran off down the corridor.

Wiping his hands vigorously on his robes, Sirius tried to laugh it off. “I knew it wasn’t you. I just thought he- it - might have known where you were, ‘cause you know, rat-buddies, and all, ahaha…”

Peter’s face was strained. His lips were pursed firmly together and his eyes were crinkled. “Mhmm… Rat-buddies. I was definitely rat-buddies with it.”

“Yeah, it’s completely plausible…you know…”

“So, are we headed back to the Common Room now?” Peter asked, his lips still twitching.

“Nah, then we’ll have to share with the others. Let’s check out the Astronomy Tower and see if it’s free.”

 

"I haven't been up here since fifth year." Peter said forlornly as they sat on the frigid Tower floor, a buffet of cakes, pastries, crumbles and other various desserts laid out in front of them. "I wasn't even allowed to take my OWLs after Professor Astrid kicked me out of class…"

"You haven't been up since fifth year?" Sirius repeated, incredulously. "This is the best spot to bring girls! You can hear when someone starts walking up the stairs, so you've got plenty of time to make it look like you were studying constellations or something."

Peter didn’t reply, leaning forward to pick up a vanilla frosted cupcake. An icy wind ripped through the open windows, howling faintly around them.  

Feeling awkward, Sirius mimicked him, picking up his own, lemon flavoured one. “It’s alright,” Sirius reassured him. “There’s a bunch of cute girls in sixth year who would love to date a seventh year. We can check them out. Get you talking to them.”

Peter still didn’t say anything as he played with the paper around the cupcake, a frown now on his face.

“Hey, Wormtail, look at me.”

Peter had barely looked up before Sirius slammed the cupcake in his face. “Wh-What?!” Peter scrambled to his feet, spluttering through cake and icing. He wildly threw his own cupcake at Sirius, who ducked it easily whilst laughing.  

A short, scrappy fight followed. It ended with a bottle of Butterbeer getting knocked over and spilling everywhere, and Peter in a headlock crying for mercy. Sirius rolled back, still laughing loudly as Peter cursed, trying to wipe off the various cake, icing and now Butterbeer which stained his robes.

 

*  *  *

 

The next morning in the Great Hall, Sirius cheerfully ate his sausages and eggs with a hot cup of tea next to his plate. On his right, James was loudly telling a story from Quidditch practice the other day about how he thinks the Slytherin team tampered with the balls during their own practice beforehand. Peter sat opposite him, listening to his story with wide eyes, while Remus next to Peter flicked through today’s edition of the Daily Prophet.

“I’m telling you, it was like they greased up the Quaffle! It kept on slipping through my fingers all practice; I couldn’t even throw it straight!”

“That’s terrible!” Peter exclaimed.

“You sure it’s Quaffle?” Sirius suggested, sipping on his tea. “All I’m saying is that you haven’t been very focused on Quidditch this year. Maybe it wasn’t sabotaged, is all I’m saying.”

James gave Sirius a very unimpressed look. “Yes, I am certain there was something wrong with the Quaffle. And what do you mean I ‘haven’t been very focused’? I’m always focused!”

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, that you are, Prongs! You've been very focused on one particular thing, all year. What are we doing this morning, anyway? We can try to sneak into Honeydukes since I'm running low on Licorice Wands.”

“Oh. Sorry, Padfoot, I promised I’d help Lily out with Defence. She’s not sure her Protection charms are strong enough, so I said I’d help her practice.”

Sirius groaned loudly, his head falling on the table with a thud. “C’mon, Prongs!”

"Speaking of…" James' voice lifted, and Sirius peeked up to see him staring happily into the distance. Following his best friend's gaze, Sirius saw Evans standing at the end of the Gryffindor table, looking around. "See you later!" James jumped up from his seat and hurried over to Evans.

Sirius watched with distaste as Evans’ eyes lit up as she saw her boyfriend rushing towards her. “Merlin’s beard.” Sirius groaned, looking away as James swooped her into a kiss and picked her off the ground, while Evans’ shrieked and giggled.

“I’ve got to get going too,” Remus said above him. Sirius looked up to see him tucking the Prophet away in his bag, standing.

“No!” Sirius cried out. “Moony!”

“I have Ancient Runes, now! I don’t have a free period like you.”

“Traitor.” Sirius glared up at him.

“That’s me. I’ll turn on anyone, friend or not.” The bitterness in Remus’ voice completely overshadowed the light-hearted tone.

“Wait, Moony, that wasn’t - ”

“See you at lunch, Peter.”

“Moony - ” But Remus had already turned and walked away without a glance back. Angry and frustrated with himself, Sirius stabbed the remainder of his sausage, now having lost all appetite.

"I've got a free period now, too," Peter said, but Sirius ignored him, mashing the sausage with the underside of his fork. Several minutes past as more students around started to file out, heading to their first class. "Look, Snape's over there!"

Sirius’ head shot up and saw Peter looking over his shoulder at the Slytherin table. It only took a split second for Sirius to also spot the greasy, Death Eater wannabe bent over a large tome, lank hair hanging over his face. Next to him was a couple of first or second year Slytherin girls, the one closest was very purposely sitting with her back facing him. A wolfish grin spread on Sirius’ face. “You know, Womtail, we haven’t seen ol’ Snivellus in quite a while.”

"Those girls next to him look a bit uncomfortable," Peter commented. "Maybe he smells really bad."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, his teeth still bared in a grin, and pulled out his wand. “Like a great big pile of dung, perhaps?”

Peter was now grinning too. "Oh, those poor first years! I guess they'll know better than to sit next to him, from now on."

Glancing to see if any Professors were watching, Sirius muttered the spell under his breath, and an almost invisible wisp of air sailed towards its target. The result was instantaneous. The girls cried out a loud _"Ewwwww!”_ Holding their hands up to their nose. _“What’s that smell?!”_ They looked at Snape in disgust as they got up and hurried away. Snape looked up from his book, confused. Several other people were glaring at him now, all shuffling away from him. Snape, unaware of the smell he was secreting, sniffed his armpits gingerly.

Sirius started roaring with laughter, unable to hold it in. The sound clearly travelled across the Great Hall, for Snape’s head instantly shot up, and locked eyes on Sirius. His face went bright red, twisting in anger. Snape jumped up from his feet and stormed over to the Gryffindor table, his hand digging in his robes for his wand.

Sirius was still laughing, but it didn't reach his eyes. They were locked onto Snape like a hunting dog with its prey, watching his every move. Peter fumbled for his wand as Snape pointed his wand at Sirius, shouting a curse. Red light crackled through the air as it soared towards Sirius, who threw up a protection charm. Peter squeaked in horror and dove under the table as the light ricocheted off the shield, slicing through several floating candles above.

"BLACK! SNAPE! STOP THIS INSTANT!" McGonagall roared, storming over from the teachers' table.

“He started it!” Snape yelled at her, his face still red, veins popping out of his forehead and neck.

“And you continued it! This is absolutely disgusting behaviour from seventh years, I am revolted by all of you!” McGonagall pursed her lips at this, eyeing up Snape critically. Pulling out her own wand, she cancelled Sirius’ hex on the greasy haired boy and continued her lecture. “Fighting in the Great Hall; you could have hurt anyone else here! Fifty points, from each of you.”

_“What?!”_ Sirius and Snape cried out at the same time.

“And that includes you too, Mr Pettigrew! Get out from under the table.”

“But I didn’t do anything!” Peter squeaked as he squeezed himself out.  

"Oh, I very much doubt that!" McGonagall said. "You can all serve detention tonight, too. Starting at 7 pm."

“B-But Professor!” Peter protested. “I need to work on your Transfiguration essay tonight!”

“Then maybe you should be doing that during your free time now, instead of instigating fights!” Peter’s eyes teared up at this and he nodded, looking away from McGonagall.

"Sorry, Professor." Sirius gritted out, feeling even angrier and more annoyed than before. Then glanced at Snape again, who looked like he was about to cry too, and a grin quirked back on his face, he couldn't smother. McGonagall and Snape glared at him, alike.

"You will be, Mr Black. Go back to your table, Mr Snape." McGonagall turned and walked back to the teachers' table.

“Fuuuuuck, a hundred points.” Sirius groaned. “Good thing we’re playing Hufflepuff next in Quidditch, we’re going to have to crush them to get those points back.”

Peter didn’t reply, instead fumbling with his bag, eyes still teary. “I need to go work on my essay.” He mumbled out, leaving Sirius alone.

 

The rest of the day went slowly, for Sirius. It was the same old routine of classes, lunch, more classes then dinner. Remus was avoiding his eye, both during their lessons together and in the Great Hall while they ate. James had brought Lily to sit with them during dinner, and Sirius had to keep reminding himself to be nice and polite to her.

After dinner, he and Peter went up to McGonagall’s office where they found out that they would be dusting the frames of all the portraits on the first floor, the Muggle way. “But Professor, there’s like a million of them!” Sirius protested.

“Is there? I never realised!” McGonagall replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“What about Sniv-Snape? He’s not here.”

_“Mister_ Snape is serving his detention elsewhere.” McGonagall gave Sirius a firm look over her glasses, clearly telling him to drop the subject.

“What’s he doing? Is he cleaning, too?”

"The detention I have given Mr Snape is none of your business, Mr Black. Now," With a wave of her wand, McGonagall transformed a chair in the corner of the room into a long wooden ladder. With another flick, the sleeping parrots in the silver cage behind her transformed into a pair of matching feather dusters. Opening the cage, McGonagall handed Peter the multi-coloured dusters, which he took gingerly. "The sooner you finish, the sooner your detention will be over."

With that, McGonagall sat back down at her desk, pulling a pile of parchments towards her for grading. Recognising the dismissal, Sirius silently picked up the wooden ladder and walked out, Peter trailing behind him.

 

“Merlin’s sweaty ball-sack, are we done yet?” Sirius complained loudly. They had been cleaning for _hours_ now, literally dusting over a hundred portrait frames with no apparent end in sight.

"Well, I never!" The woman in the ornate gold-framed painting he was currently cleaning huffed and stormed off in disgust, her pink ruffled robe fluttering behind her.

“Err… Maybe?” Peter said from above him, wobbling slightly on the top of the ladder.

“Be careful, boy.” An older man in the portrait near Peter warned. “That’s a long way down if you fall.”

"Ohh!" Peter moaned despairingly, clutching the ladder as it wobbled more violently.

"Don't listen to him, Wormtail," Sirius said annoyed. "Rats always land on their feet."

“That’s cats!” Peter wailed.

A soft giggle came from behind Sirius, making him turn around surprised. He hadn't realised anyone was here with them. Standing there was Anna Horton, a Ravenclaw seventh year. Her brown hair was pulled up in a bun on the top of her head, emphasising her particularity large ears that stuck out. Sirius thought she was one of the better-looking girls in their year. "Hi." She said, smiling at Sirius.

“Oh, hey Anna.” He blinked.

Still smiling, she eyed Sirius up coyly. “I was hoping you weren’t too busy right now. I really could use a hand practising for the Charms test tomorrow.”

“Huh? Anna, you’re the best in our year at Charms! Surely you don’t need my help…” Sirius trailed off, catching on. “Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. I can definitely help with Charms. Wait, right now?”

“If you’re not too busy?” Anna blinked uncertainly, glancing at the feather duster in Sirius’ hand and up at Peter. Her wide eyes and large ears suddenly reminded Sirius of an owl. Or a house-elf.   

“Nope! Now’s fine!” Sirius dropped the duster with a clatter. He quickly offered his hand to Anna and lead her towards the Grand Staircase.

"Padfoot!" Peter yelled at him from the top of the ladder. "You can't leave!"

“I’ll be back, Wormtail!” Sirius snapped, barely glancing at the other over his shoulder. “It’s fine, just chill out, alright?”

“We’re in detention! I’m not finishing these on my own!”

“I told you, I’ll be back!” Sirius snapped, walking away with Anna.

“Are you sure it’s okay? We can do it another time?” Anna’s voice was quiet.

Sirius looked at her and saw she had a pink flush of embarrassment on her face. He quickly scrubbed off his frown and gave her a charming smirk. “Right now’s perfect. So, where do you want to… practice?”    

 

It was in the quietest hours of the morning when Sirius finally got back into the Gryffindor Tower. He had to wake the Fat Lady, who was far from impressed with him, threatening that she was going to tell the Professors in the morning. _She should be happy I came back when I did!_ Sirius thought. After his escapade with Anna, he took her back to the Ravenclaw dormitory; it was the gentlemanly thing to do, after all. He had thought then about taking a detour down to the first floor, just to make sure Peter wasn’t still there cleaning, but without James’ Cloak or the Map, he deemed it too risky.

Entering their dormitory room, Sirius winced as the floorboards creaked under his feet. Tip-toeing to his bed, he looked around at the others. James was flat on his back, the covers half kicked off and snoring softly. Remus was curled up on one side twitching, a frown on his face even while sleeping. The full moon was a week away and he was already showing signs. And over at Peter’s bed, the curtains of the four-poster were drawn firmly closed, not letting him able to peek in at all.

A part of Sirius wanted to go over to Peter right now and apologise. He had to make sure that Peter didn’t have any hard feelings towards him and that he knew Sirius would make it up to him, later. But a larger part of Sirius really didn’t want to deal with an upset boy right now. Besides, it was early in the morning and everyone was asleep; It was hardly the time for that kind of conversation, he reasoned. It’s better to wait until the morning.  

Pulling off his robes, Sirius wriggled into his bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

 

*  *  *

 

Sirius woke to a bright light shining in his face. Groaning, Sirius had to roll over and bury his face in his pillow to escape the red light that was trapped in his eyelids. But now everything was dark again, he could hear birds chirping, obnoxiously outside. _“Nooo…_ I don-mmphrmn…” He groaned into his pillow in protest.

Then his eyes flew open and he sat up, back rigid. Almost giving himself whiplash as he snapped his neck around, Sirius found the dormitory room empty, save for himself. Fumbling for the watch on the bedside table, Sirius swore venomously when he saw the time. Defence Against the Dark Arts started in ten minutes!    

_Thanks for waking me._ He thought angrily at his friends, pulling on yesterday’s crinkled robes. Thirty seconds later Sirius was running out of the Common Room; Four minutes had past and he was shoving a group of Hufflepuffs out of the way on a revolving staircase; After seven minutes he nearly barrelled over Professor Flitwick in the corridor who was too startled to say anything as Sirius ran away shouting apologies; And with ten seconds to spare he collapsed into his chair, sweat running down his temple.  

“Good morning. I didn’t see you at breakfast.” Remus said next to him, sounding far too innocent for a friend who let him sleep in.

“Don’t… you… fucking… start.” Sirius panted out.

“Before we begin our class, I’ll be collecting your homework…” The Professor at the front of the classroom spoke. Still breathing heavily, Sirius pulled out the essay from his backpack, and finally had a chance to look around the room. James, of course, was next to Evans, but Peter wasn’t in his usual seat next to him and Remus. Sirius then spotted Peter in the far corner of the room, and he frowned.

So Peter was still angry with him over last night. _And to be fair, he has every right to be._ Sirius thought reasonably. _I'd be pissed too if he ditched me for a girl. Actually, no. I'd clean every portrait twice if it meant Wormtail getting laid. But it's still understandable he's angry with me._

Throughout the class, Sirius kept glancing over at Peter, trying to catch his eye, but the smaller boy’s face was firmly fixed on the front of the classroom. Finally, the hour past and they were dismissed. Sirius jumped up from his seat and headed straight for Peter. The other boy was slippery, however. He had twisted his way through the other students and was out the door before Sirius had even gotten close to him.

Squeezing between them, Sirius chased after Peter. “Hey! Wormtail!”

Peter didn’t turn around, the shorter boy walking quickly down the corridor with short steps. Running after him, Sirius caught his arm and pulled back. Peter finally spun around, his eyes blazing with fury. “What?”

The harsh, flat tone took Sirius by surprise. “… I’m sorry?” Sirius tried. Peter sneered at him before he started walking away again. “Hey, hey! Wormtail!”

“I don’t have time, Sirius.” Peter said, not slowing his pace.

Chasing after him again, Sirius tried stepping in front of Peter, who quickly tried to side-step him. Realising Peter wasn’t going to stop, Sirius nervously started jogging backwards, making sure he was ahead of the other. “Look, I’m sorry about last night. It was a dick move and I shouldn’t have left you in detention.”

Peter didn’t reply, refusing to even look at Sirius.

“I’ll make it up to you!” Sirius continued. “I’ll help you with your homework. Transfiguration, yeah? I’ll explain what putting the mandrake leaf under your tongue actually does, and why we had to wait for a storm to drink the potion…”

Peter’s face remained stony. “No thanks. I can read the book myself.”

“What about Potions? I can help with - Whoa!” Sirius’s foot caught something behind him and he fell harshly to the ground.

Peter was looking down at him, his eyes still cold. “I don’t need your help.” He said before stepping over Sirius.

Lying on the ground, feeling bruised and bit embarrassed, Sirius stared at the retreating back. “Well, fine then. See you in Charms.”

 

Over the two days following, Sirius’ mood went from being annoyed to irritated and back again. In the Charms class after his confrontation with Peter, Professor Flitwick took twenty points from Gryffindor before Sirius even had a chance to sit down, remembering when Sirius had bowled him over in the corridor earlier. They then had to sit a written test, which Sirius is pretty sure he flunked.

After the test, Sirius had tried talking to Peter again, but the other boy was firmly set on avoiding Sirius. It was at this point Sirius’ thoughts slowly started changing from feeling guilty and trying to be understanding to feeling irritated at Peter’s behaviour. _Yes_ okay, he _knows_ that Peter has the right to be angry at him. But Sirius just wished Peter would do something about it! Actually pick a fight with Sirius, so they could rough it out and _move on_ rather than this dung that was now being dragged out.

He tried going to Remus and James for help, but both refused to get involved, saying it wasn’t their place. So now, two days later, Sirius was walking back to the Gryffindor Common Room on his own. He rounded a corner and stopped dead. A group of Slytherins had Peter backed up against the wall, clutching a stack of books to his chest. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Peter’s nervous expression said it all.

“Hey, Reg!” He shouted out and they all turned to him. “What’s going on here, huh?”

Regulus looked at Sirius coldly, the same look of disdain on his face their Mother had whenever she saw Sirius. “Minding our own business, _Sirius _.__ As should you.”

“It’s my business when you’re bullying my friend.” Sirius said venomously, making a show of pulling out his wand from his robes.

Regulus’ eyed it warily, obviously debating whether a fight here was worth it. “Very well. See you around, Pettigrew.” He clasped Peter’s shoulder, who flinched visibly. Not giving Sirius even a glace, Regulus turned and walked away, his group of Slytherin friends following after him.  

Once they were out of earshot, Sirius turned to Peter. “What was that? What happened?”

“Nothing happened.” Peter’s voice was flat, but there was an underlying weariness to it. “Why did you step in?”

Sirius blinked in surprise. “Because you’re my friend and they were bullying you? Fuck Wormtail, you may be pissing me off right now, but you’re like a brother to me! You’re more of a brother than _he_ ever was.”

“Really?” Peter’s voice was quiet and vulnerable. He was staring up at Sirius with watery eyes.

“Yes, really! I’d die for you, Wormtail. Don’t forget that! Come here!” Sirius pulled Peter into a hug, the books in Peter’s arms crushing and digging into his ribs painfully.

Sniffing, Peter asked “And why are _you_ pissed off? I’m the one who should be angry right now!”

Sirius waved his hand offhandedly. “With all that passive-aggressive dung you were pulling. I hate that sort of thing; just sort it out or get over it.”

A joyful expression appeared on Peter’s face and he started laughing. “Hah! Why do you think I did that anyway? I knew it would annoy you!”

"Wait, are you serious?! I swear you should have been sorted into Slytherin, sometimes."

“Hey, now that’s going too far!”

“Can you imagine? You’d be best friends with Snivellus!”

“Eww!”

 

*  *  *

 

Remus’ transformations were always rough, but this one seemed particularly brutal. Padfoot’s ears were turned down as Remus howled; a garbled, haunting cry of a man in pain and a beast clawing to escape. The sound echoed around the wooden shack, and next to Padfoot, Prongs pawed the ground nervously. But they stood firm, watching their friend wither on the ground, scratching the floor as claws grew out of his fingers and fur ripped through skin.

Another spine-chilling howl and Wormtail, nestled on Padfoot’s head, started shaking. The figure finally stopped moving and wild, yellow eyes looked up at them. Moony had appeared. The werewolf snarled at them, his back hunched and hackles raised. Padfoot barked at it. _C’mon Moony, you know who we are._

Moony growled low, swiping at them to back off. Padfoot and Prongs did so, slowly. _It’s one of those transformations, huh?_ They hadn't seen Moony this bad since they first started joining him. As each month had passed, Moony came to recognise them not as foe, but as friends, and slowly, more and more of Remus started to peak through the beast. But right now, this was the monstrous creature all wizards fear.

Moony must have sensed their hesitance, for he suddenly tried to sprint past them. Prongs jumped in front immediately with his antlers lowered, while Padfoot dove for Moony's ankle, trying to drag him back. Moony thrashed and twisted, scratching and kicking. Prongs let out a high pitched scream as the claws caught his side, digging into his flesh. Moony twisted free, running for the door.

As Moony scratched at the door, Padfoot nuzzled Prongs, who let out a low murmur of pain, blood dripping from the wound. Behind them, Moony howled, throwing his body at the door, but it didn’t budge; The spells Dumbledore wove on the Shack were too strong for the werewolf to break free. They watched Moony give up on the door and tore off into the other room, hearing crashes as it knocked over furniture.

Suddenly the sounds of furniture being thrown around stopped abruptly. Padfoot and Prongs inched over to the room, prepared for Moony to attack them, but found it empty. Next to all the broken furniture, the trap-door on the floor lay wide open. Padfoot felt his heart stop. Did they forget to shut it when they came in?! Not sparing another second, Padfoot darted down the tunnel, chasing after Moony. On his head, Wormtail squeaked as the rat tried to cling on desperately.

 

Emerging onto the moonlit school grounds, Padfoot saw the werewolf bounding off into the Forbidden Forest. Chasing after him, he heard the clopping sound of hooves approach as Prongs fell into stride next to him. Trusting his instincts as they ran through the increasingly dense forest, they finally caught up to Moony. Followed was an ugly battle of biting and clawing, their bodies being thrown around brutality. Moony fought and Padfoot and Prongs fought back.  

With his heart was racing with fear and adrenaline, Padfoot realised that this was the most fun he had had in a long time. And also just how alone he had been, trapped in the castle without his friends by his side. He missed them; He missed them so much, and he wished things could go back to how they were before. Before girlfriends and exams, when they didn’t need to think about their future and their life after Hogwarts. This moment right now was rough and animalistic, and it was everything he wanted. They clashed together in perfect chaos and Padfoot felt alive.

This was how it should be.  

 

The sun rose slowly, casting it’s first light on the sleeping figures beside the Black Lake. Nestled between a large stag and a black dog lay a naked boy, stirring. The movement woke up Padfoot, who licked Remus’ face. Remus grimaced, trying to batter the dog away, who simply barked, wagging his tail. Padfoot transformed back, grinning as he kneeled over Remus.

“Merlin’s beard, you fucking gave it last night, Moony!” Sirius exclaimed, feeling very sore.  

“Yeah, no shit.” James wheezed out, as he transformed back himself. He winced as he touched his ribs, distinct bloody claw marks showing through the torn robes.

“I… Oh no! What did I do?” Remus looked horrified as he quickly sat up. His face was too pale as he stared wide-eyed at the wound he had inflicted on his friend.

“It was amazing,” Sirius reminisced dreamily, as Remus tried to heal James.

But there was only so much they could do for James’ wound by the Lake, so they got Remus wrapped up in a warm cloak and the pair helped James walk back to the Whomping Willow. The sunlight caught the dew on the grass, sparkling like gems as they walked over it, leaving footprints in their wake. Above them, the first owls flew, heading to the Great Hall with their delivery.  

Wordlessly agreeing they needed to hurry, they scrambled back to the Willow. As they approached, they froze spotting a figure sitting near the base, just out of reach of the volatile branches. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, realising it was Peter. “Wormtail! You missed out, mate!” He called out, grinning.

Peter was shivering, his arms wrapped around himself and his lips had a blue tinge to them. He must have spent the whole night outside. “I-I fell off…” Sirius could barely hear him over his teeth rattling. “I was w-waiting here for you to return, but…”

“That’s really too bad,” Sirius said sincerely, “It was the best night I’ve had in a long time!”

“I’m so sorry,” Remus said, who was looking at James, his face twisted in deep remorse.  

"Seriously Moony, it's fine," James said to him, trying to smile reassuringly. "We know what we're getting ourselves into by joining you. If it helps your transformations even the slightest, this is worth it." James tried to stand up on his own, but all the colour drained from his face and his knees buckled, falling hard to the ground.

“James!”

“Prongs!”

“Damn it, Wormtail, don’t just stand there, help us!”   

 

 

* * *

 

 

_The evening of 31 st October, 1981  _

 

Sirius sat staring into the fire, a glass of Firewhisky gently sloshing around in the glass in his hand. He had gotten home not long ago from a small Halloween gathering with some other members of the Order, but something just didn’t seem right. Maybe it was just because his best friends weren’t there; There was no way James and Lily could attend now, and deep in his heart he’s not surprised Remus didn’t show. It made him feel sick, but with each blow the Order took; with each secret leaked to Voldemort, he _knew_ Remus was a spy.

After the Ministry declared that werewolves were allies of Voldemort, Remus had gone completely off the grid. He kept in infrequent contact with Sirius by owl, and shown up to an Order meeting when he deemed it safe to, but refused to even hint at where he was hiding. Both sides could attack him for who he was, and he didn’t want to take that risk.  

But Sirius _knew_ he was hiding with other werewolves. And how could he trust someone who’s broken bread with the likes of Fenrir Greyback? He’s seen first-hand what werewolves could do to a person; He had seen the aftermath of werewolves targeting Voldemort’s enemies: the blood; the torn limbs; the mangled flesh ripped as easily as wet parchment. So _how_ could Remus continue to associate with them? The only answer was that Remus accepted his place with them.

Sirius __was__ surprised that Peter didn’t show, however. Maybe he was laying low after becoming James and Lily’s Secret Keeper? That was definitely the smart thing to do, but Sirius couldn’t shake this nagging feeling of dread twisting in his stomach.

Sirius sipped on his Firewhisky, glancing at the unopened letters piling on the low table in front of the fire, and winced. They were all from Peter spanning over the last few months. Sirius had opened the first few, but they were all the same; Peter wanting them to catch up and hang out together like they used to. Sirius stopped opening them, always thinking that he'd deal with them later. But months past and the letters piled up and Sirius had to finally be honest with himself and admit that Peter just wasn't worth his time right now. They were at war; he couldn't set aside time for something so frivolous. His priority was doing everything he could to end it, no matter how small or how dangerous.

But the end of the War seemed so far away and unobtainable. Every day it got worse. Those with the strength to fight him were dying or being captured and tortured, while those without cowered on his side in fear. All he wanted was for things to go back to how they were in Hogwarts. The four of them, together. Five now, if you include little Harry! They'd teach Harry how to play Quidditch, and show him all the secret passageways in Hogwarts. Maybe in his later years at school, they could even teach him how to be an Animagus, too! _He'll definitely be a stag, like his Dad._

Sirius downed the rest of the Firewhisky. He couldn’t sleep like this, not with his stomach twisting on itself and his hands shaking. Grabbing the keys to his motorbike from the hook by the door, Sirius decided he’d go for a ride. He’d go and check on Peter and make sure nothing had happened to him. Maybe he’d even stay for a little bit; Peter should love that.

_Everything is fine,_ Sirius told himself, the motorbike engine grumbling underneath him. _There’s no way something happened to Peter. James and Lily are safe._

 

 


End file.
